--see review in vol 1 and vol 5--

Also known as Hong Lou Meng, this is arguably China's greatest literary masterpiece. A chronicle of a noble family in the eighteenth century; but the splendor of enchanting gardens, pleasure pavilions, and daily life of the most sophisticated refinements hides the realities of decay and self-destruction.

Le premesse dicevano che sarebbe stato il piu' grande romanzo della letteratura cinese (o almeno uno dei migliori). Ma la trama non era poi cosi' coinvolgente, sinceramente ci si aspettava molto di piu'. ( )

It is a classic and understandably so, but in my opinion it is quite a strenuous and tedious task to read it in its entirety. I just can't over so many pages follow the story and its multiple and diverse characters. This may be a fault on my part, but I'd rather spend the time with something a bit easier to get into. Perhaps, just an annotated edition would have made the deal and helped me to get into this influential work. ( )

I was hesitant to start reading this, because I was afraid it would be difficult to read as a non-chinese reader, and because I was afraid it would be long. Well, yes, it is long, but surprisingly enough it didn't feel like it was very long - the story drew me in and kept me reading, and though there are some aspects of Chinese culture that take some getting used to, it wasn't very difficult to read either.
Xueqin tells the story of a very wealthy Chinese family; he focuses mainly on the women of the house and one of the sons, Paoyu. Paoyu grows up in a protected environment, the favourite of his grandmother, pampered by numerous servants, spending his time gallivanting with his nieces in the beautiful gardens adjacent to the house. However, even rich households can get into trouble, and even Paoyu can't always get what he wants...
I very much enjoyed the story. I found the beginning (the first volume) a bit long winding, as it is mainly an introduction to the characters and the household, but from the second volume the story really takes off. We get to know the different members of the families and their likes and dislikes, and share in the worries of the family. Each character has his/her own story and though some of the female characters are slightly hysterical, you do get drawn into their stories and feel for the characters.
Aside from that, the novel gives a great historical view of Chinese society and tradition. I really didn't know much about Chinese culture before I started reading, and I very much enjoyed getting to know the ways of an ancient, wealthy family - the rules of conduct, the social connections, the household and the servants are all described and give a vivid idea of what life was like.
Though the writing style is somewhat different from the style in Western novels, I didn't find it difficult or daunting. Xueqin's descriptions are beautiful, and I enjoyed the way in which the story alternately slows down and speeds up, which works very well for a very long work like this. ( )